The “Dinghai” ultra-large-diameter tunnel boring machine (TBM) recently rolled off the production line in Changsha, Central China’s Hunan Province. It was jointly developed by China Railway 11th Bureau Group Corporation Limited and China Railway Construction Heavy Industry Corporation Limited, both subsidiaries of China Railway Construction Corporation Limited.
A ceremony is held in Changsha, Central China’s Hunan Province, to mark completion of the “Dinghai” ultra-large-diameter tunnel boring machine (TBM). [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
It will be used in construction of the Jintang undersea Tunnel of the Ningbo-Zhoushan high-speed railway. The shield tunnel section is about 11.21 kilometers.
Weighing about 4,350 metric tons, about eight times the weight of an ordinary TBM, the “Dinghai” TBM has a digging diameter of 14.57 meters.
During its development, the research team innovatively adopted smart and green tunnel building technologies such as advanced geology forecasting and cutter changing under saturation pressure to contribute to the tunnel’s safe, green, high-quality and highly-efficient engineering.
The Ningbo-Zhoushan high-speed railway, once fully operational, is expected to realize the “one-hour traffic circle” of East China’s Zhejiang Province. It will improve Zhoushan and Ningbo’s involvement in the national economic development strategies like co-construction of the Belt and Road and development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.
(Executive editor: Xie Yunxiao)
